Winnebago Football Preview

Winnebago Football Preview

Winnebago, Illinois-The Big Northern West Conference was up for grabs last season. Winnebago was one of the teams battling for the title. Can the Indians make another run at is this year?

The Indians won 9 games last season for the second straight year. They reached the third round of the playoffs for the second straight year. But 19 seniors from that team are now gone.

"Experience is one thing I'm concerned about," says head coach Mark Helm to Eyewitness News. "We have some kids with experience, but not a ton of minutes."

Still the Indians will have no shortage of playmakers on offense. Ryan Swigart is back at quarterback looking to improve on a solid junior season.

"Just capitalizing on every opportunity," says Swigart. "I never want to miss an open pass. And be smart with the ball."

"He's worked hard in the weight room," says Helm. "I'd like to see him carry the ball a bit more and be more a threat in the run game."

Speedy Fred Mosby, who runs a 4.4. 40, and Michael Pate will get their share of handoffs from Swigart. And Isaiah Yanni provides a big target at receiver.

"We've got a couple playmakers on this team," says Mosby. "Guys who can make big plays any time."

The key for Winnebago rests with the linemen.

"The Big Northern is still a physical league," says Helm. "You have to be able to run the ball. To do that you have to have an offensive line, so that's one of our biggest concerns coming in is making sure we're getting ready to do those skills."

Helm says this will be one of Bago's faster teams.

Now that the Indians have enjoyed some success in football, they want to sustain it.

"Those are my expectations," says Helm. "I hope it's the kids also. You get to a certain point you go up and now down. We want to continue to go up."

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